Lukabeth One Shots
by lukabeth
Summary: I noticed a lack of Lukabeth stories, so this is a collection of one shots for my otp ranging from when they were running away and what-could-have-beens if Luke hadn't died. Updating whenever I have time.
1. Nightmares

_**If I owned PJO, you'd know. Also, if I owned PJO, Luke would still be alive and he and Annabeth would be together. So therefore, I own nothing.**_

Seven year old Annabeth Chase was used to sleeping wedged between Luke and Thalia. However, since they arrived at camp, things had been different. Thalia hadn't even made it to camp and Luke had been very different ever since she died. She barely saw him anymore, he was always with his cabin and she was with hers. Those were the rules. She didn't really like this place. Why were they keeping her and Luke apart?

Thalia tended to be sound sleeper, so it was always Luke who comforted her after nightmares. He would hold her and stroke her hair and convince her none of it was real until she fell asleep again. Her nightmares were usually about monsters, but the past few nights they had always been about the same monster. Specifically, the Cyclops that killed Thalia. When Annabeth wakes in tears and cold sweat, Luke is not beside her or even in the same room as her anymore. There are no arms around telling her it was just a dream, no voice telling her he'll always protect her because that's what family does. All Annabeth sees is a cabin full of sleeping strangers. She misses Thalia and misses Luke.

Annabeth knows it's against the rules to go to anybody else's cabin, especially at night for some reason, but she can't help but want to go see Luke. Still, she's not sure which cabin is the Hermes one, especially in the dark. The nightmares are getting worse and worse by the night to the point where she's trying her hardest not to fall asleep so she doesn't have to face them. It doesn't work. She wakes up in quiet sobs, the image of the Cyclops standing over her fresh in her mind. This time, she isn't the only one awake. An older boy, maybe around Luke's age, gets out of his bed and walks over to her. He has blonde hair and gray eyes, same as her.

"Hey, you're the new girl, aren't you?" he asks, rubbing circles on her back soothingly. His eyes are kind.

Annabeth nods between quiet sobs. "I-I-I w-want to s-see Luke," she stuttered.

The older boy looks confused. "Luke? He's the sandy haired one you came here with, right? Hermes' Cabin?"

She nods again, body shaking. The older boy bites his lip, thinking it through. If he takes her to the cabin, he could get in major trouble. Still… nobody deserves to sob and shake the way Annabeth is. "C'mon," he decides. "I'll take you to him."

Annabeth takes his hand and they walk together past cabin after cabin until they reach a huge one that looks much older and worn than the others, even in the dark.

"Thank you," Annabeth whispered to the older boy. Her lip is still trembling and she can't get it to stop.

He simply nods and holds the door open. She walks in quietly. None of the campers even stir. She makes her way into the cabin, looking for Luke. There's a lot more people in here than in her own cabin. She finds him near the back, sound asleep. His mouth is slightly open and he's not wearing a shirt. The blanket is half on his body and half on the floor.

"Luke?" Annabeth pokes him lightly. He stirs, but doesn't wake. "Luke?" She says it a little louder this time and pokes a little harder. He wakes and as soon as his blue eyes land on her, they widen and he abruptly sits up.

"Annabeth? What are you doing here, you shouldn't..." His voice trails off when he sees her tear stained cheeks and trembling lower lip. Instantly, Luke knows it's another nightmare. He picks her little frame up easily, seating her beside him on his bed. He can feel her body shake against his and instantly feels guilty. He's been so caught up in Thalia's death and his reaction to it that he completely forgot about how Annabeth might react.

"Shhh, it's okay," he tells her even though it isn't. Luke pulls her to him and tears splatter over his bare chest.

"It t-t-tried t-to eat me," Annabeth stuttered and he instantly knows she's talking that damned Cyclops.

"Do you think I'd let it?" Luke asked gently. "Annabeth, you're always going to be safe with me. I'm always going to protect you. Family, remember?"

Her wide, tear stained gray eyes stare up at him. "You promise?"

"I promise," Luke nodded. Annabeth holds out her tiny pinky finger, so they pinky swear on it.

Eventually, the shaking subsides and the tears stop coming. She falls asleep on his chest and Luke can hear the light breathing of her tiny snores. He could, of course, carry her back to her own cabin. But that might wake her and besides, what if she has another nightmare? He should be here for her when she wakes. So instead, he throws aside thoughts about how much trouble they'll be in the next morning and pulls the blanket off the floor and covers her little body with it. He'll be here when she wakes and she'll see that nothing is different. Just because they're not together as much anymore doesn't mean a thing.

Family. He promised.


	2. First (Almost) Kisses

The first time Annabeth cried over a boy, she was ten. Well, ten and three quarters. It was a boy from the Ares cabin. His name was Conner. He was three years her senior, but that didn't matter to her. He was an excellent sword fighter with a stunning smile and it was often her he was smiling at, much to Luke's dismay. Conner had dreamy green eyes and she got butterflies in her tummy every time she saw him. He liked her, she was sure of it. He'd even said so. They'd held hands once and he'd even tried to kiss her, emphasize on the tried. He had been leaning in, his mouth inches from hers when startled; she'd backed away and nearly tripped over a rock behind her. What if she did it wrong? Was there a specific way you were supposed to move your mouth?

She attempted to practise with her pillow that night, but it was no use. The next day when she went to find Conner, she found him holding hands with a beautiful girl from the Aphrodite cabin a year older than him. Making her 4 years older than Annabeth and a hell of a lot better looking. She saw them and bolted back to the empty cabin, hiding out in her bed for the rest of the day so she wouldn't have to face them. Annabeth was mortified and beyond embarrassed, how could she ever have thought somebody like him would like her?

When Luke saw Conner holding hands with some Aphrodite girl at breakfast, he sensed something was wrong. When his eyes strayed over to the Athena table and found the seat beside her favourite half-brother Malcolm empty, he knew something was most definitely wrong. Abandoning his breakfast, Luke made his way to the Athena cabin to find Annabeth. He found her sitting on her bed puffy eyed and instantly opened his arms. She practically ran into them, tears staining his shirt.

"Annabeth, what happened?" he asked quietly. She explained, but her face was in his chest and the sound was muffled. All Luke was heard was "he tried to" "I didn't want to" and "so he" but it was enough. He froze. Oh Gods, he was going to kill Conner.

"Annabeth," Luke said softly, releasing her so he could see her face. "Did he… touch you? Or try to make you do something you didn't want to do?"

She shook her blonde head and Luke could tell she wasn't lying. He exhaled in relief. "He tried to kiss me," Annabeth explained minus the voice muffling. "But I wasn't ready so I backed away… and he left. And now I saw him kissing the Aphrodite girl. Luke, I thought he liked me. He _told_ me he liked me."

Luke's fists clenched. "It's fine," he told her. "I'll take care of it. It's all going to be fine. Stay here, I'll be right back." Without waiting for a response, he practically ran back to where everybody was eating breakfast, only to find it mostly empty. There was only one person left at the Ares table and it wasn't Conner. The Aphrodite girl was gone too. He made his way around camp until he spotted the two, hands entwined and surrounded by friends. An audience. Pushing his way into the middle of the circle where Conner was, Luke grabbed him and shoved him so hard he sprawled to the ground.

"Dude!" Conner exclaimed as he scrambled up. "What is your issue?"

"Don't you dare," Luke seethed, grabbing him by the shirt. "Go anywhere near Annabeth ever again, or I swear on the River of Styx, I'll-"

"Dude!" Conner tried to pry Luke's hands off of him but it was no use. At 17, Luke was nearly fully grown, about half a foot taller than him and a lot stronger. Conner turned to his friends and grinned. "Why would I want to go near her, she's such a prude."

His friends snickered and that was it. Luke's fist connected with his nose. There was a snapping sound and when Luke withdrew his fist, there was blood on the knuckles.

"DUDE!" Conner yelled for a third time. "Are you crazy? I think you broke my nose!" Blood was spilling onto the grass. If Luke hadn't broken his nose, he's definitely caused a nosebleed. The Aphrodite girl had backed away, a hand over her mouth. A crowd was forming around them. There wasn't much camp drama going on ever; this fight was pretty much prime time television.

"She's TEN," Luke yelled back. "Do you understand? TEN! I doubt she even knows what a prude is!"

If Annabeth was here, she would've objected and insisted ten and three quarters, but she wasn't. She was in the cabin, oblivious to what was going on.

"You're psycho, man," Conner shook his head, holding a hand to his bleeding nose. The grass was turning red.

Anger was pulsing through Luke's veins. How dare he say that about Annabeth, how dare he say _anything_ about Annabeth! Giving Conner one last shove which once again sent him sprawling, Luke decided it wasn't even worth it and head back to the Athena cabin to see Annabeth before Mr. D or somebody came around.

"He was too old for you, anyway," Luke told her when got back. In years and years, that would be a pretty hypocritical statement, but for now it was just him looking out for her, as he promised.

Conner's nose would never be the same. Luke _had_ indeed broken it and it would always be slightly crooked. The Aphrodite girl broke up him shortly after the fight and went after Luke instead, deciding he was a much better catch. To Annabeth's delight, he harshly turned her down and the entire camp learned a lesson that day. It didn't matter if Annabeth was too young or too small to hold her own ground because until she could, Luke would always be there to help her.


	3. Catching Feelings

_**In which (just for this one shot) Luke never joined Team Evil**_

If there was one thing Luke hated, it was the way boys had started to look at Annabeth. Her fifteenth birthday had come and gone and even though he was seven years older than her and had never thought about her that way, he had to admit she was beautiful. Not only beautiful, she was strong, brave and intelligent and he was no longer worried about her. She was perfectly capable of handling any boy in more ways than one. Besides, Conner from the Ares cabin's nose was still slightly crooked and everybody could take that as a warning of what happened if you messed with Annabeth.

He had promised Thalia and Annabeth family. He hadn't been able to keep his promise to Thalia, but he planned to do whatever it took to keep his promise to Annabeth. Besides, the boys were into Annabeth but she never showed any interest in any of them. Until the day Percy Jackson came around.

Luke had to admit, Percy was a good kid. If Annabeth wanted a boyfriend, Luke should be glad it was Percy she liked. Still, he wasn't. Every time he saw them smiling at each other, he looked away. Every time he saw them kissing he felt like puking. It was a strange feeling he couldn't quite place. He hadn't felt it before, at least not to this extent. Jealousy? Luke Castellan had never been jealous. Not in this way, anyway.

It wasn't like Luke never had any girls before. After all, he was 22. He'd had his fair share of girls and hook ups but none of them had been special. He was into adulthood, what was he still doing at camp? It wasn't like there was anything left for him here, but it was the closest thing to a home he'd ever had. Besides, Annabeth was still here and so was Thalia's tree. Luke knew he couldn't bring himself to leave Annabeth. He'd wait for her to move on first, even though that would be years away. He could wait.

Honestly, Luke didn't even know what he was doing hooking up with Lana all the time. She was a year younger than him and her mother was Aphrodite. It showed. She had long, soft blonde hair, green eyes and a slender body with curves in the right places. In fact, at this point he wasn't even sure how their arrangement had started. It wasn't like he harboured feelings for her. Luke didn't want to be mean or anything, but he didn't really like her at all. It was all meaningless and he was tired of it. He wanted to feel something.

But when Lana was planting kisses on his neck and bare chest, he didn't' feel anything at all. Gently but firmly, he pushed her off of him and made some excuse about not feeling well. She didn't buy it.

"Luke, are you changing teams or something?" she demanded. "You haven't been into it for weeks."

"I'm just not feeling well," Luke growled, grabbing his shirt off the pile of discarded clothing on the floor. He pulled it over his head, and then slipped his pants back on. "Leave me alone."

He walked out without waiting for a response or any indication she had heard or understood him. As soon as did, he wished he hadn't. Around the corner he spotted Annabeth, her hands entwined with Percy's. It was dark outside, but he knew he could spot Annabeth from anywhere. Everybody else was on the other side of the cabin. They were stealing time alone. Percy said something and Annabeth nodded, leaning up to kiss him. Luke looked away, quickly turning to head back to the Hermes cabin. This was not something he wanted to see.

The cabin was already filling up when Luke arrived. He stripped down to his boxers before getting under the covers. He wanted nothing more than for this day to be over.

Luke wasn't sure where Annabeth had come from, but suddenly she was standing there. Except for them, the entire cabin was empty; something that never happened at night. She was wearing a orange camp shirt a size too big and shorts he could barely see under the big shirt. Although Luke though orange was a colour that didn't really suit anybody, it seemed to suit her. He was still in his boxers.

"Luke."

Her voice was soft and a bit like a whisper. He'd never wanted to touch anybody more. He wanted to feel the curve of her mouth against his, he wanted to hold her and stroke her cheek and he wanted her to want him back. Luke tried to say her name, but nothing came out. It was like a rock had lodged itself in his throat. Annabeth walked closer and closer until she was right in front of him.

Luke had never felt this way about any girl he'd been with before. He'd never desired anybody the way he desired Annabeth right now. They weren't touching, but it was like he could feel the body heat radiating off of her. She smelled good too, but he couldn't place what she smelled like. It was a scent that was just her and he loved it. He was a few inches taller than her, but her mouth was only inches away from his, lips parted just a bit. Luke Castellan had never wanted to kiss somebody so bad in his entire life.

Annabeth seemed to read his mind. "Kiss me," she said, so he did.

He titled his head down, she titled her head up and when their lips met, Luke knew he'd never want to kiss anybody else in his entire life. Her arms wrapped around his neck, hands running through his sandy hair. He never wanted her to stop. Luke's hands rested on her hips and he found himself lifting her up. Her legs automatically wrapped around his waist and he wanted to keep them there forever. Backing up, Luke sat back down on the bed with her straddling him, revelling in the fact that only a few layers of clothing separated them. He kissed her and kissed her knowing he could never get enough of Annabeth Chase.

This is wrong, Luke thought. She's fifteen. This is so, so wrong. I need to stop this.

But as her lips trailed down his neck, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Annabeth's hands were at the hem of her shirt, pulling it up. But before Luke could decide whether he wanted to be a good person or a selfish person, he felt somebody shaking him.

Suddenly, everything was gone. Annabeth was gone. He was still in the cabin and it was still empty, but light streamed in through the windows. Travis Stoll was at his shoulder shaking him awake.

"Luke, wake up, you missed breakfast," Travis said but Luke no longer cared for breakfast. "You need to eat."

He had a dream about Annabeth. He had a dream about kissing Annabeth. He had a dream about kissing his oldest friend, a girl he knew since she was seven and also happened to be seven years younger than him. Luke did not need breakfast and he did not need to eat. All he needed at the moment was a freezing cold shower.


End file.
